It doesn't explain why those players had no drive and didn't want to be here, though? We had a very talented Academy side that reached the youth cup final a couple of seasons ago. Out of that group of players, Henley was already involved in the first team, O'Sullivan has made one sub appearance for the first team, I think, and most of the rest are now gone. What went wrong for all those players to lose interest?

If we are to believe Kinder's comments (and earlier ones from Bowyer with regards to getting players such as Marrow and Judge in to help change the mentality behind the scenes) then certain players, while productive on the pitch in the short term, may have been having a negative effect on the development of the squad as a whole.

If we're sticking with the current regime, then better to cull out anyone who could hinder development sooner rather than later.

That still doesn't explain how we got to a stage where the older players lost interest and were bringing the younger players down. As a PL side we had an Academy team that reached the Youth Cup final. Within a couple of years, those same players are deemed as having no future even at Championship level. Why have none of them developed, why have none been promoted to the first team squad, why did they become disillusioned at being here? Kicking them all out may have become a necessity, but it's not addressing the problem.

Rover the Top wrote:That still doesn't explain how we got to a stage where the older players lost interest and were bringing the younger players down. As a PL side we had an Academy team that reached the Youth Cup final. Within a couple of years, those same players are deemed as having no future even at Championship level. Why have none of them developed, why have none been promoted to the first team squad, why did they become disillusioned at being here? Kicking them all out may have become a necessity, but it's not addressing the problem.

Just a theory, but it may have been something to do with last seasons constant disruption on a managerial front. That must have been hard enough for the experienced players to deal with - let alone the youngsters who were teetering on the brink of the first team. I imagine that sort of chaos would be hard to handle without a measure of maturity and their reactions could have easily been disruptive to younger players in the academy.

Either way, if there was a problem then it needed sorting out. We'll probably never know how a potentially bright bunch of youngsters came apart like that, but if they did, then it needed dealing with.

It very much reminds me of Bowyer's handling of the first team, I remember reading about him saying that he brought players like Marrow and Judge in partly due to their attitude and the effect it would have on team morale - and that coupled with players with reported problem attitudes (Rochina, Best, Campbell, Goodwillie, Orr) quickly being shipped out on loan has a similar feel to it.

...with Marrow and Judge also loaned out, Marrow now transfer listed. Judge wanted out so he could play, which was what Best, Goodwillie, Orr, Rochina, etc wanted too. Bowyer was the U21 manager before Kinder. McPhillips managed the youth cup team. It's not like they've come in and inherited a bad situation, the current management had an active role in the development of those players. I'd be very surprised if they didn't have a say in which youngsters got offered full time contracts too. Kinder's criticisms seem to conveniently omit that point.

I took it that Judge and Marrow came in and helped establish a better atmosphere within the squad and then were then presumeably let out once that corner had been turned. As more of Bowyers signings entered the set-up, (presumably with the correct sort of mentality) and the attitude of the squad improved, it would become less necessary to have those two around when they weren't getting on the pitch.

As for comparing them with Orr and Best in wanting to get out there and play - reports suggest that they went out to achieve an exit in very different ways.

Let's see if Kinder means what he says about getting them to push on into the first team. O'Sullivan and O'Connell looked good prospects a couple of years ago, but then so did several others who've since been ditched. The fact those two have stayed perhaps suggests they've been picked out as the two most likely to make it, but then the club has some responsibility to give them the incentive to make the step up. I get the feeling that we go round in circles with our youth policy, we've spent a lot of money on trying to find raw talent, but when it comes to the crunch, we always opt for what's readily available on the transfer market instead of putting some faith in what we already have. Offering new contracts is a waste of time and money if we're not going to give them games too.